Day 087, Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Herberton to Ravenshoe

Distance travelled – 43.2 km
Avg speed – 14.5 kph
Max speed – 47.6 kph

We started the day by riding to the local cemetery to look for the grave of Reverend Arthur White. This was an undertaking we made earlier in the ride as we researched the origins of the ANZAC Day ‘Gunfire Breakfast’ and dawn service.

We had learnt that Reverend White was credited as the founder of the ANZAC Day dawn service and he was buried in Herberton. We therefore thought that a small side trip to Herberton would be a nice link to our ANZAC Day story on Day 28 of our small expedition. It was only later that we discovered the camera museum, which gave us a second reason for making the detour.

We found the grave in the Church of England section of the cemetery. His head stone has the simple inscription “A Priest” and as we had read on the web there is a small plaque that reads: ‘Adjacent to, and on the right of this marker lies the grave of the late Rev. Arthur Ernest White, a Church of England clergyman and padre, 44th BN., First AIF. On April 25th, 1923, at Albany, W. A., the Rev. White led a party of friends in what was the first ever observance of the Dawn parade on ANZAC Day, thus establishing a tradition which has endured, Australia wide, ever since.’

Whilst we were at the cemetery we got talking to the Groundsman and he told us that White’s grave is the most sought after in the cemetery. He also told us that Herberton is unusual in that it has three services on ANZAC Day. The dawn service at the town’s war memorial, a 9.00am service at the cemetery near White’s grave and then a 12.00 service back at the town’s war memorial.

After the advice we had from the Ambo’s in Atherton yesterday we decided to take the dirt road, which followed an abandoned railway between Herberton and Ravenshoe. It started off bitumen, turned to smooth gravel and then became very rough. Obviously the Ambulance had turned around before the rough bit. But even though it was rough in parts and we had to push the bikes through one or two creek crossings we were rewarded with seeing what we believe were a flock of 50 or 60 Brolgas. When we enquired at the Ravenshoe Visitor Centre we were told that it was possible to see Brolga so we have captioned our photos accordingly. Overall it was a pleasant ride along the dirt road with only three cars passing us along the way. A quiet alternative to the highway.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

Herberton Historic Village

Creek Crossing on Flaggy Creek Road

Queensland's Highest Hotel

Previous Report

Next Report

Top